August 31, 2016

Kingery highlights group of Phillies prospects headed to Arizona Fall League

Phillies prospect Scott Kingery is hitting .300 over his last 10 games with Double-A Reading (Frank Klose/Philliedelphia)

By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor

Rosters for the 2016 Arizona Fall League were announced today by Baseball America and six Phillies prospects will suit up for the Scottsdale Scorpians, who also field young talent from the Angels, Mets, Yankees and Giants. The league will begin play on October 11.

Heading to Arizona from the Phillies organization will be pitchers Victor Arano, Brandon Leibrandt and Miguel Nunez, second baseman Scott Kingery, third baseman Mitch Walding and outfielder Andrew Pullin.

Arano, 21, has appeared in 44 games this season between Double-A Reading and Advanced 'A' Clearwater, posting a 4-2 record to go along with an ERA of 2.23. After throwing 63 innings with Clearwater, sporting a 2.29 ERA, Arano was promoted to Double-A, where he's allowed just three earned runs in 13.2 innings of work.

Leibrandt, 23, was a sixth round pick of the Phillies from the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. He just returned at the beginning of August following a four-month stint on the disabled list. In nine starts between the Gulf Coast League and Clearwater, he's 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA. Last season with Clearwater, he went 7-3 with a 3.11 ERA in 17 starts.

Nunez, 23, is currently clsoing Double-A after just six games in Clearwater this season. He's coming off of two tough outings in Reading and overall has a 3.25 ERA in 44.1 innings at the Double-A level, where he has converted 20 of his 22 save opportunities.

Kingery, 22, comes in as the Phillies 14th best prospect according to MLB.com. After hitting .293 in 94 games with Clearwater, Kingery has put together a solid month and a half with Reading following his promotion. He's hitting .300 (12-for-40) over his last 10 games and has a .267 average overall in Double-A this season through 32 games.

Walding, 23, was a fifth round pick of the Phillies back in 2011. He hit. 280 through 100 games this season with Clearwater before being moved up to Reading, where he's hitting .238 in 21 games. Up until his stint in Clearwater this season, Walding hasn't hit above .237 in his career with the Phillies organization.

Pullin, 22, was selected in the fifth round of the 2012 draft by the Phillies. He actually retired in April of this year, but was resigned by the Phillies just over a month later. He's played 36 games in Reading and 26 with Clearwater, hitting a combined .322 with 21 doubles, two triples, 14 homers, 51 RBIs, and 53 runs scored. Pullin has a .346 average and a .559 slugging percentage in 188 at-bats with the Reading Fightin' Phils this season.

Former Phillies outfielder and fan favorite Aaron Rowand will be the manager of the Glendale Desert Dog, fielding players from the White Sox, Nationals, Astros, Cardinals and Dodgers.